Related content

Minutes into his initial meeting with media three years ago, UNLV football coach Tony Sanchez stressed the importance of attracting Las Vegas-area prospects to the Rebels’ program.

There’s high-quality high school football being played here, especially at three-time defending national champion Bishop Gorman, and Sanchez envisioned building a powerhouse at UNLV with local players as the foundation. He was previously the Gorman coach, giving him instant credibility when recruiting there.

Tonight, he got another verbal commitment from a Gorman Gael.

Greg Francis, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound safety, became the fourth Gorman player in the past two years to commit to UNLV. Francis’ teammate, linebacker Farrell Hester, committed over the summer to join 2016 signees Julio Garcia II and Jaron Caldwell, who each played this fall with the Rebels.

Francis also had scholarship offers from Navy, Idaho, Weber State and Northern Arizona, according to Rivals.com. He’s the sixth player to commit who officially visited UNLV last weekend.

Francis had 43 tackles and two interceptions last fall for Gorman and should have a chance to compete for playing time immediately at UNLV, whose secondary struggled defending the long pass last season.